Insurtech firm RenewBuy plans to come up with IPO in 2 years says CEO

Insurtech company RenewBuy is planning to come up with its IPO in about two years from now, banking on healthy growth of business and a strong pedigree, its CEO and co-founder Balachander Sekhar said.

Insurtech company RenewBuy is planning to come up with its initial public offering (IPO) in about two years from now, banking on the healthy growth of business and a strong pedigree, its CEO and co-founder Balachander Sekhar said.

The agent-led digital-driven insurtech company was founded in 2015 by Sekhar and Indraneel Chatterjee to bridge the demand-supply gap of insurance in the semi-urban and rural areas in India.

"There was an acceptance of this idea, that if we got our ability to scale and we were able to reach this scale, we will certainly list in the market. It is a healthy business. We are one of the most professionally managed companies in this sector. All of us have strong prior experience and a strong pedigree.

"So, with all the reasons, I think it is a question of when. In our view, we are probably a year or two away from that (IPO)... I would say very soon," Balachander Sekhar, CEO and co-founder of RenewBuy, told PTI in an interaction.

He added that it is not just the founding and management team but across the board, RenewBuy has built one of the most professionally managed teams with high governance standards.

"We are now a six-year-old company and maybe, we will hit the markets when we are 7-8 years old," he added further.

Talking about the industry, he said insurance as a category is still not fully understood by the customers. There is still a need for hardcore tele-calling involved and customers are to be told about the product.

There are millions of insurance agents in India, many of whom are struggling to sell products.

"So, we felt how we can empower these agents and work with them to increase the insurance penetration in the country. So, that was our first strategy," the official said.

He said insurance broker companies such as RenewBuy were hugely benefited by regulatory changes a few years ago, such as allowing the brokers to hire agents directly.

RenewBuy said it has onboarded close to 50,000 point of sale (PoS) partners and insured over 25 lakh customers across 650 cities and towns.

Recently, the company raised USD 45 million, in a series-C funding round, led by Apis Growth Fund II, a UK-based private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP.

The company's focus area is semi-urban and rural areas that contribute to over 60 per cent of its business, with a focus on addressing an under-insured population in the country.